The exhibition BOMB promises to be a striking, fascinating, at time humorous spectacle. It will be an intense confrontation with nationalism, racism and discrimination. Artists Blak Douglas (aka Adam Hill) and Adam Geczy are staging this exhibition for the AAMU in connection with the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht. BOMB shows a different side to the legendary European negotiations relating to the Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1713.
The art works in BOMB shows the effects of extreme nationalism, the relationship between the oppressors and the oppressed, and discrepancies between black and white. In multimedia installations, videos, murals, performances and photographs Blak Douglas and Adam Geczy show what it is like to be sidelined as a group and how difficult the reconciliation process is. In their art works Douglas and Geczy propose radical change and are very critical of imposed symbols such as the Australian flag and the national anthem.
This is the first spontaneous close collaboration on such a scale between an artist with an Aboriginal and an artist with a European-Australian background. Douglas and Geczy are both known for their outspoken political opinions and activist works, and in BOMB they do away with the often romanticised, mass-marketed image of Australia and Aboriginal culture.
The work from which the exhibition takes its title is an old BMW which will be painted on location. ‘Bombs’ are old cars that are not fit to be driven but sometimes still are, often bij Aboriginal people; old cars like this are often abandoned in the Australian outback. This work is also a critical reference to the car Aboriginal artist Michael Nelson Tjakamara painted in 1989 for the BMW Art Car Project. For Douglas and Geczy this work represents the contrast between the commercially successful and often much sought-after Aboriginal acrylic paintings on the one hand and the harsh reality of the exploitation of the Aboriginal population and their culture on the other.
Throughout the gallery space, various videos of speakers and actors talking about nationalism and racism will dissolve into a cacaphony of sound. In a floor installation, red, orange, black and brown golf balls form the word CLUB; the land with with the Aboriginals have had a spiritual bond for thousands of years has had to make way for luxury golf courses. At the same time this work speaks about how certain Aboriginal groups club together to the detriment of themselves. Another suite of work involves T-shirts bearing the words Fuck off We’re Full, taken from comments made by white Australians about refugees. With this work the artists state that the problem is that white Australians themselves are recent inhabitants to a land that had been occupied by Aborigines for over forty thousand years.
Performances in the exhibition: From 11 until 19 June, the period during which the two artists is setting up BOMB, the exhibition space is accessible to the public and performances are held.